FG Sets Up Committee To Probe Abduction Of Dapchi Girls

The Federal Government has set up a 12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 110 students of the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday said the committee was convened by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd).

He said the committee, which will be chaired by a military officer of the rank of Major-General, comprised one senior Provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force.

He said other members of the committee included representatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA); Nigeria Police Force (NPF); Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

The minister said that the committee also included two representatives of the Yobe State Government and a representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser.

He said the terms of reference of the Committee included ascertaining the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls.

He said the committee would confirm the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security emplaced in Dapchi and in GGSTC before the incident.

The minister said the committee would suggest measures that could lead to the location and rescue of the girls and recommend measures to prevent future occurrence.

He said the committee to be inaugurated on Wednesday is expected to submit its report by March 15.

NAN reports that earlier, the federal government released names of the missing girls.

The list, which the minister said was handed over to him by the Yobe Government, contains the name, age, and class of each of the 110 students.

Out of the 110 missing girls, eight are said to be in JSS1, 17 in JSS2, 12 in JSS3, 40 in SS1, 19 in SS2 and 14 in SS3.

Mohammed said that the girls’ ages range from 11 to 19 years.

The list, which also contains the contact address and phone number of each missing girl, was said to have been verified by a 26-member Screening Committee that includes the Executive Secretary, State Teaching Service Board, Musa Abdulsalam; Director, Schools’ Management, Ministry of Education, Shuaibu Bulama; Principal of GGSTC, Adama Abdulkarim; the two Vice Principals, Ali Musa Mabu and Abdullahi Sule Lampo; Admission Officer, Bashir Ali Yerima, and the Form Masters for all the classes.

Meanwhile, Mohammed said that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on Tuesday relocated to Yobe State to personally superintend the search for the girls.

He said that the Nigerian Air Force had earlier deployed more platforms to the North-East for the search, as the security agencies ramp up their efforts to locate and rescue the girls.

“As at 6 p.m. on Monday, the NAF had flown a total of 200 hours while conducting the search,” Mohammed added.